For 6 weeks, due to a broken septic tank, we have been unable to put any water at all down our drains. This has involved driving to the gas station/grocery store/town park/etc every time we had to go to the bathroom. It has meant keeping buckets in all of our sinks for tooth brushing/dish washing/etc that we have to empty in our driveway whenever they fill up. It has meant either showering at the pool or, if in a rush, stopping up the drain in the bath tub and showering before work and then bucketing out the water when returning home. It has basically been like living in a 250k tent with climate control and real beds.
On Monday (purportedly) it will finally be fixed. We want to have a big, water-usage themed party (sorry, environment) to celebrate this miraculous victory. Please help with suggestions. [more inside]
posted by corn_bread
on Apr 16, 2013 -
20 answers

My preschooler is getting just old enough to have a proper social life (playdates, birthday parties, etc.). I've got some specific questions about the parental etiquette expectations surrounding these kiddie get-togethers. [more inside]
posted by Bardolph
on Apr 5, 2013 -
24 answers

A bunch (8-10, possibly more) of friends and I want to rent a beach house or similar living situation for Thursday-Monday over the summer, either late June/early July or early August. Where should we go and how can we find affordable housing? [more inside]
posted by Urban Winter
on Apr 5, 2013 -
13 answers

How do I hire someone in New York City that can provide a very unique service for a bachelorette party? This would involve specific timing, possibly a costume, decent voice, decent looks, heaps of charm. [more inside]
posted by rachaelfaith
on Mar 25, 2013 -
9 answers

What tips or suggestions do you have for throwing an anniversary party themed after the sitcom Friends? Specifically, can you think of a suitable coffee-house or other venue in Calgary, AB? [more inside]
posted by chudmonkey
on Mar 22, 2013 -
27 answers

My wife is approaching a milestone birthday and she's drawn up a list of people she would like to invite. Originally, we were going to have it at our house, but when the invitee list passed 150, we decided we don't want that many people roaming through the place. She wants to cancel the event, but I want to throw her a party anyway. [more inside]
posted by IndigoSkye
on Mar 20, 2013 -
13 answers

Gift ideas for corporate gala party favor? Every gift which is given, even though is be small, is in reality great, if it is given with affection.
-Pindar [more inside]
posted by little miss s
on Mar 3, 2013 -
12 answers

For a charity auction, my family "donated" a Ms. Pac-Man party for 16 people. The winners are 8 couples in their mid- to late 30s who each paid a decent bit of money to come to our house and be entertained for a night. We have an old-school Ms. Pac-Man cocktail table and a tournament will be the centerpiece, but I want to put on a great party and give these good people their money's worth. What great ideas - whether general grown-up party ideas or specific Ms. Pac-Man ones - will make that happen? My budget is not unlimited but assume it is large. [more inside]
posted by Duluth?! I Hardly Know Her!
on Feb 27, 2013 -
31 answers

My husband mentioned to me some years ago that he'd never had an actual, cake-and-candles, friends from the neighborhood invited, hats and horns birthday party in his entire life. I'd like to give him a small surprise birthday party for his upcoming birthday in late March, but I have questions about how to actually word the invitations. [more inside]
posted by Oriole Adams
on Feb 26, 2013 -
14 answers

I want to host a "will party", which will feature yummy snacks, refreshing drinks... and access to all of the resources needed for end-of-life planning. Is this doable? HOW? Intestate-rrific details inside... [more inside]
posted by julthumbscrew
on Feb 26, 2013 -
22 answers

I'm hosting a football-free celebration of man's finest feathered friend, this Sunday. What owl tributes and puns do I need on the menu, on the television, on the stereo, and as decor? [more inside]
posted by enfa
on Feb 1, 2013 -
23 answers

So we've got a chocolate-tasting party next month, with about 50 people attending. We divide into dark, semi, milk and (yes, sorry, purists) white, around 20 types. I've done this before (really fun) but used paper and pen, tallying up the winners at the end of the night. This time I was thinking of giving guests a few of something to hold - poker chips? - and have them drop them into jars or something near their favorites. I'm not so hot on the poker chips in a glass jar idea, though, since you can't see them from far away, and it doesn't really have much volume in the jar. Any fun ideas?
posted by VeniceGlass
on Jan 30, 2013 -
26 answers

What are ways to make a really large wedding feel intimate and special? My boyfriend and I just engaged (yay!) and we are super excited to be married to each other. We're also super excited to have a wedding: we're taking a relatively relaxed, guests-first approach to the ceremony and reception, with the goals of the whole thing feeling (1) intimate, (2) special, (3) really, really fun. All this was eminently doable when we thought the guest list was going to be 75. But now, many difficult conversations with our parents later, we're facing down a guest list of over 250, and I'm at a loss as to how to still hit our mood/vibe/emotional atmosphere goals. [more inside]
posted by firstbest
on Jan 24, 2013 -
19 answers

I'm currently a maid of honor in NYC. My bride wants to invite 24 ladies to a night on the town for her bachelorette party. Please help us not kill each other. [more inside]
posted by thirdletter
on Dec 26, 2012 -
13 answers

One of the downsides of being born in mid-January is that it's always snowing, which leads to a certain inertia when it comes to birthday parties. People don't like to expend the effort to come to a birthday until they think it's going to be exceptionally fun. [more inside]
posted by wolfdreams01
on Dec 3, 2012 -
11 answers

If it's true that deep down, most people feel lonely, bored, languid, unsure and/or sad -- and that most people know this -- then why is expressing these feelings, either intermittently or habitually, such a faux pas, taken by others as distasteful, unfriendly and even pathetic? [more inside]
posted by frankly mister
on Nov 15, 2012 -
36 answers

I'm getting in married in December. Our venue has a fancy old-fashioned bar, but we have no bartender. Help me plan an awesome DIY bar! [more inside]
posted by logic vs love
on Nov 5, 2012 -
27 answers

Gender bending costume ideas for a formal-ish occasion for two ladies: one on the tallish and thinnish side, one on the shortish and curvyish. [more inside]
posted by jetsetlag
on Oct 24, 2012 -
15 answers

My coworker is having a birthday party and invited everyone except me I think. I don't "GET" this, but I would rather sort of have an explanation in my mind.... Is this just a thing about work friendships? [more inside]
posted by kettleoffish
on Oct 18, 2012 -
24 answers

Please help us experience an American-style Halloween in the San Francisco Bay Area (ages 20s-30s). For us I think this means finding the most highly recommend of: 1). A big event crammed with people in their best arty / sexy outfits (like SEAF Seduction, or Decompression if it were reinvented as a Halloween event), 2) An amazing haunted house, 3) Maybe a corn maze or similar? What are your strongest recommendations? [more inside]
posted by anonymisc
on Oct 18, 2012 -
5 answers

Looking for fun party games (other than Telephone Pictionary) that can be played with 20-25 people and involve little (or no) supplies, explanation, organization, or complex thinking. [more inside]
posted by Afroblanco
on Oct 18, 2012 -
24 answers

My Titanic-obsessed son is turning 7 in a couple months. I want to throw him a party he'll remember forever. I have the cake planned -- a friend is baking a Titanic-shaped masterpiece. For the rest, I need AskMe's help. [more inside]
posted by Professor Horatio Hufnagel
on Oct 12, 2012 -
27 answers

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